Years ago, I realized how cheated I felt when I got mediocre grades in history class (aka "social studies"). It was all about war and politics, followed by more war and more politics. I thought I just hated history back then.
I borrowed books from my junior high school library about the discovery of electricity and all that it lead to (generators, the power grid, radio, television, computers, and so on). I didn't think of it as history but that's what I was learning. They never gave me any recognition (grades or credit) for what I was learning.
Later on in life, I realized that history is about so much more than what we were being served. One day I devised this history test, partly out of spite, I guess. I wanted to show history teachers how little they really knew.
Since then, I've realized that my test is not really much better than what's in the common schoolbooks. After all, my opinion of what's important is just my opinion. These are the topics that inspire me. What I wish is that students become free to study history from any angle that inspires them, and to follow the connections out into all of society and culture, wherever they may lead. If you happen to like sports, then start there. Eventually, you'll run into commerce, politics, technology, media, the entire gamut. See? No problem.
Yes, I have also provided a file with my version of "the answers." Enjoy!
I borrowed books from my junior high school library about the discovery of electricity and all that it lead to (generators, the power grid, radio, television, computers, and so on). I didn't think of it as history but that's what I was learning. They never gave me any recognition (grades or credit) for what I was learning.
Later on in life, I realized that history is about so much more than what we were being served. One day I devised this history test, partly out of spite, I guess. I wanted to show history teachers how little they really knew.
Since then, I've realized that my test is not really much better than what's in the common schoolbooks. After all, my opinion of what's important is just my opinion. These are the topics that inspire me. What I wish is that students become free to study history from any angle that inspires them, and to follow the connections out into all of society and culture, wherever they may lead. If you happen to like sports, then start there. Eventually, you'll run into commerce, politics, technology, media, the entire gamut. See? No problem.
Yes, I have also provided a file with my version of "the answers." Enjoy!
| history_test_basic.pdf |
| history_test_answers.pdf |
RSS Feed